~ Welcome - Willkommen - Bienvenu - Benvenuto - Welcome ~
This blog is one of my first explorations in using social software. Initially, in conjunction with my wiki it will follow my web 2.0 learning journey.

"PHOENIX — Arizona faces the prospect of large-scale layoffs of school teachers next year due to the state’s budget problems, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne said.

He said the “massive layoffs” of teachers are possible even though school districts’ actual job cuts for the current school year fell short of reductions indicated by early layoff notices. The vast majority of those notices were rescinded, he said."

My comments:This is the third article this week that I have seen about drastic measures that involve teachers in cuts and changes to working conditions as a result of budget cuts in the USA.

This useful wiki resource states: There is a growing desire to rethink education and learning, and the phrase "School 2.0" is being used to think about what schools will look like in the future.

The edorigami is a very valuable resource blog and should be followed to maximise professional and student learning benefits. This is just one example, check out the whole site, especially the work on Bloom's Taxonomy.

Google liberalises Google DocsGoogle wrote: "A couple weeks ago, the Google Docs team launched a multi-file uploader to make it much easier for you to put files into the cloud. Today we’re launching a new feature to make it much easier to get your content out: “Convert, Zip and Download.”

Tuesday, 27 October 2009

Another wonderful NASA product, Planet Quest is a multimedia timeline of space exploration that begins at 500 B.C

The Fantastic Food Challenge is from Michigan State University and has four engaging online games designed to teach various aspects of food health and nutrition. This page has the link to play the online games.

If you aren't following Larry Ferlazzo's blog you are missing on a day to day basis, some of the best educational sites for students. He provides in his daily email a short review of each site.

Sunday, 25 October 2009

I take a look at UK websites every couple of months. Many Local Education Authority (LEA) websites have well-developed education pages and resource collections. They are often called "Learning Grids". Here are a few:

In this area you can find NEN Teaching and Learning resources. Enter a keyword in the search box to the right to search for resources or use the Grid below to find the resources that you need quickly and easily by Subject Area and Key Stage.

A nifty resource that is not a LEA:Material WorldThis eLearning resource has been created by the Museum Network. The Network is a partnership of five museums, one national and four regional, that work together on the care, presentation and use of its collections, including digital and on-the-ground projects for schools.

I'll back to update you on other UK learning grids and resources over the coming months. If you pass by here and want to help me find these best, leave your finds in comments.

I have just finished up a couple of draft blog posts that go back to August, so I know that TIME to write more is unlikely to materialise any time soon.

At the same time, I am aware that it may be more than just being time-poor. Maybe it is worse. Perhaps, I have finally reached the time in my career when I just don't have a great desire or motivation to do more.

In spite of this, I am still quite active and all the information, that I "pull" to me each day still makes it easy to be a little productive without a huge energy or time commitment.

Check out my tweets and join the chat of DET twitterati via #DERNSW and #DETNSW

Tuesday, 20 October 2009

How much should schools filter Internet content? | Edutopia:The article states:"The vast majority of schools receive some form of government funding for their computers, which requires them to filter obscene Internet materials. But whether intentionally or due to confusion about the technology, schools frequently set their Internet filters so broadly that they block not just pornography but also mainstream sites like MySpace, as well as wikis and reproductive-health resources."

My comments:The context is the USA. It is worth looking at the poll. For the many issues and risks associated with using the internet during school hours, this poll is a little simplistic.

Still, the topic is keenly discussed at the moment and everyone has some view.

Monday, 12 October 2009

Dan Beldowicz @danbeldowiczwrote: "If you have been baffled and confused and just don't know where to start with social media, you must not have heard of the Golden Triangle. The Golden Triangle was lost thousands of years ago... Wait! That's a different story, this one was discovered within the past two years!

This is a story of how the Social Media Golden Triangle can completely transform the way you communicate with your clients and customers and your business. We all know that economic times have changed. You have been hearing about Social Media, Social Networking, Viral Video and many other social media outlets that you wish you could leverage and turn into business.

What I'm about to discuss is nothing new, but it is a strong force that if used properly, will change the course of your business.

You have undoubtedly heard a lot of hype and hoopla around Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. These three sites make up "The Social Media Golden Triangle". Now is the time to put them to work for your business. Using the Golden Triangle can help you identify, attract, and interact with your target audience. This powerful combination of websites can take you from just barely surviving to thriving in the current economy."

This is a must-follow and develop concept. Lately, I have also seen this notion explored in a triangle with broader concepts at each angle.I am still trying to relocate this diagram ...

Read Dan's post and think about the ways to explore the idea. For education, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube as discrete sites won't fly in K-12 education. At the same time, the power and potential of connectivity and interactivity is what is significant.

Jeremiah wrote: "Whether you’re a professional speaker, company representative, or panelist at a conference, you must develop a social strategy during your speaking.

The Audience Continues To Gain Power Over SpeakersA few years ago, the first major eruption occurred from the audience hijacking the attention at SXSW during an ill-fated interview on the main stage. Even weeks ago, Kanye’s debacle was commented on by Twittering attendees despite them not even having the mic.

This week, an audience revolt happened at the Higher Education Conference, you can read about it here, here, here and here. Although I was miles away, I was watching it unfold in real time on Twitter search –I felt horrible for that speaker who likely didn’t even know what was happening till someone posted his phone number on Twitter and people were texting him how horrible he had done. Ouch, the audience was vindictive and felt injured and wanted to get back."

My comments: This post gives a number of useful tips for presenting to any audience. The time has come, people don't have to listen, they can talk publicly amongst themselves on a backchannel.

@drezac wrote: "As teachers, we all use Gagne's steps, for the most part, but what I've found is most teachers may not even remember where these steps came from, me included, until recently: American Educational Psychologist Robert Gagne.

Gagne's steps were based around the Information Processing theory, where the goal was to maximize retention of knowledge (most likely- rote knowledge)."

My favourite social software tools

Social Media 4 A Learning Revolution

About Me

Learner, reader and collector.
I am an avid collector of things I like. I have clothing, household wares and furniture from the 50s to 80s. The pleasure is in the hunt and I regularly visit markets, op-shops and garage sales on the lookout for that new little treasure. My collections remain works in progress.